Welcome To The New Age
by Apocalyptic-Wasp
Summary: "Isabella Cullen," A soft, heavily accented voice purred from within the shadows. "How lovely it is to finally put a face to the name..." Lesbian. Eventual Bella/Tanya. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**AN - Hi. So... I noticed people were still reading and favouriting my Bella/Tanya fics. I decided maybe I should dig around on my laptop and see if I could find one I wouldn't mind posting on here for those of you still wanting to read this pairing. I can't say I'm still crazy about Twilight, but I like this pairing so if people are going to read this, I will do my best to finish it for you. It WILL be Tanya/Bella. Eventually. That's really all I know at this point. If you would like me to post more chapters to this, please leave a review and let me know you're reading, otherwise I'll probably just scrap it. Anyway, this one is short but the other chapters will be longer. I have a few written up already.**

**So in short, if you want me to continue this, let me know. Have a nice day. :)  
**

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**Welcome To The New Age – Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: ****Don't own it.**

_Forks, Washington, 1951_

Growing up, Bella Cullen liked to think she was a fairly bright child. According to her parents, she was walking and talking and writing well before others her age were. Whether that actually made her gifted or not had never really mattered them though, they'd told her. They would have loved her regardless. But they'd always encouraged her in whatever way they could, even if it was as simple as reading to her before bed each night growing up, or helping her with homework.

And honestly, sometimes it really _was_ that simple. She loved to read and to write, and her family _always_ encouraged that, especially her older brother Edward. He'd bought her first journal for her even; a beautifully bound leather journal that Bella had fallen absolutely in love with. It was a little worn, he told her when he'd given it to her, because he'd had it since he was a little boy, and honestly, what more could she expect from something that was at least a decade old? He'd been joking of course, he knew she would love it, but to squash any doubts her brother may have had she'd hugged him hard enough to make him jokingly complain that he could not breathe. And then of course her other brother had complained about getting no cuddles and she'd had to give him his hugs as well, which _of course _then prompted her sister to appear out of nowhere and complain also. And somehow it had then turned into a massive group hug that just never seemed to end and _she _had complained...

So yes, maybe she liked to think she was an intelligent child growing up. Her father's library was her favourite place to spend her time after all, second only to spending time with her sister in the garage, where she would help Rosalie work on their father's Chevrolet. And if her mother asked her for a hand in preparing dinner, then she gave her a hand. If Edward wanted some company going into town, she went with him because she knew he would likely take her to the library after doing whatever it was he had to do in the first place. If her other brother Emmett asked her to play some ball with him in the yard, she was happy to run around, and barefoot at that, laughing and shouting like a lunatic with him because it was fun. And when her father finished work early and wanted to read a story to her at night like he had when she was little, she would snuggle up with him on the couch by the fire with a smile on her face, happy to indulge him because _it made her happy as well_. Bella knew how babies were made, she knew about the menstrual cycle, and she knew that when she lost a tooth, it wasn't the Tooth Fairy that took it and left money under her pillow. She questioned things and she liked to explore things, _learn _more than she already knew.

One thing she never questioned though, was her family. Not their decisions or their sometimes odd behaviour, none of that, because she loved them and _she trusted them. _She wasn't usually a fan of regretting the things she'd done or hadn't done, or the things she'd asked or hadn't asked, but she found herself regretting it now, even if she didn't know exactly what _it _was.

Questioning, noticing... _asking_.

If she had, she thought with a sinking feeling in her gut, maybe none of this would have been happening.

"Isabella Cullen," A soft, heavily accented voice purred from within the shadows. "How _lovely_ it is to finally put a face to the name..."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN – Well then, I suppose for now I will continue this. Thank you so much for the reviews. I haven't re-read this tonight, so I'm sorry for any mistakes there may be. I just wanted to get this out before bed. I finished work not too long ago and I'm pretty fucking exhausted tonight, but this chapter is part of my thanks. It follows immediately from the first one. I'd love if you left me your thoughts. They do wonders for my inspiration to write. :)**

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**Welcome To The New Age – Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer: ****Don't own it.**

_Continued..._

Terrified, with wide eyes and shaking hands, Bella looked about her hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman who had spoken.

"There is no need to be afraid, child." The same woman then said, as though she actually thought she could make Bella believe that she cared_. _"It's alright..."

There was a soft breeze, barely even a shift in the air really, but Bella had enough wits about her to realise it was movement and the woman had come closer to her. So close in fact, that Bella felt her cool breath hit the back of her neck as the woman spoke again, even gentler this time.

"Do as I ask," She murmured, "And on my word, no harm will come to you."

Bella didn't believe her. Not for a second. She'd stolen in through her window in the dead of night, without a sound, without so much as a breath Bella was sure, and taken her from her home and her family. She had already proven her words were lies.

Bella stayed still as a statue, not daring to move even as she felt a cool touch on the back of her neck. It was the woman's finger, she realised with a start, tensing with every inch that finger trailed along her shoulder. The woman behind her then ran her nose, or what Bella assumed was her nose from the gentle breaths that followed, along the same trail her finger had taken. It was no less cold either, and Bella was sure she was going to cry.

Speaking to those with her, the woman giggled and said something in what Bella recognised was Italian. She _knew _because her father had wanted to teach her and she hadn't been interested at the time. She was regretting that now as well. She was regretting a lot of things, it seemed. Whatever the woman had said though, it brought a soft rumble of laughter from the shadows, and Bella realised with growing panic that there were far more people with the frightening woman than she had thought.

"Please," She whispered, not knowing what else to say when she felt lips press to her shoulder. Very cold and very _grinning _lips at that. "Oh God, _please_ don't do this."

Her terrified plea seemed to do nothing but amuse her captors though.

"How old are you, Isabella? Sixteen? Seventeen?" The woman murmured once the quiet laughter of her companions had subsided. She took a deep breath against her skin. "_Oh_..." She breathed out, sounding both pleased and breathless at the same time. "Eighteen and _pure. _Have you truly never laid with a man, Isabella? Not even a little kiss?" She asked, sounding more and more pleased, and not in any way that seemed to make Bella feel in the slightest bit better. "Oh my," She breathed in against her skin again, taking in her scent, and Bella's stomach dropped further. "How very _delicious_ of you..."

Bella flinched when she felt a fat drop of rainwater hit her forehead, like someone had physically struck her, and it caused the woman behind her to release a breathless giggle.

Cold, scared and confused, dressed in nothing but a thin nightgown, Bella felt the tears coming long before she felt strong hands drift down her sides to grab her by the hips.

"Please," She tried again, this time sobbing the words into the dark. "Please let me go!"

"Hush, Isabella, it's all about cooperation, remember? So I want you to listen to what I have to say _very _carefully, alright?"

The rain had started to pick up by this point, and Bella trembled and shook under what she was sure was the universe's tears for her.

"My name is Sulpicia," The woman, Sulpicia apparently, whispered as she let her fingers familiarise themselves with Bella's small hips. "I am a vampire." She said in the same breath, tightening the grip she had on Bella so she couldn't try to run. "Those with me are vampires." Stepping closer still, closing the small gap that had remained between their bodies up until that point, the woman deliberately let her lips brush the shell of Bella's ear as she finished with, "I have come to make you one of us..."

Bella couldn't speak... couldn't even open her mouth to _try, _but the woman's words sent a shiver of fear down her spine anyway, despite her inability to _say something, _to even acknowledge the woman's insanity with the quietest of sounds.

It was just... _insane_.

"I'm sure you are wondering why, or even how you come into this, hmm?"

Bella wasn't wondering that at all. She was still reeling over the fact that a crazy woman and the bunch of equally crazy freaks with her thought they were vampires. But...

How _did _she come into it? Were they going to attempt to drink her blood to make it more real? Laugh and declare it all some sick joke in a few minutes time, say they were only pulling her leg? Why _her?_

"Oh honey, you really have no idea, do you?" Sulpicia purred with quiet glee. "Your family has been _lying _to you. Your mother, your father, your brothers, your sister..." She giggled again. "Your whole life has been a _lie, _Isabella, and do you know why? Because they, like the rest of us, are vampires, and they have _no_ intention of making you one of us. They intend for you to age, to grow old, to _die_."

Like the cool chill of Sulpicia's body seeping through her clothes, her words may as well have been a bucket of water to Bella's face for how cold they made her feel. Maybe it was shock. Or maybe it was because the rain was coming down in earnest now. Maybe it was a combination of both. Whichever it was, she felt like she was being crushed from the inside out.

Insanity or not, her words _hurt._

"You're family broke the law." She said. "They have risked the exposure of our kind by bringing you into their lives and for that I cannot allow them to go unpunished. They _must _suffer the consequences of their actions."

"W-w-why are you... _doing _this?" Was all Bella could manage to get through trembling lips. "_Why?"_

"I told you, they have no intentions of making you one of us." Accompanying her explanation was a rumble of growls this time, so soft that Bella barely heard it over the now pouring rain. Sulpicia chuckled. "You see?" She purred. "That is a crime."

"Please," Bella sucked in a deep breath, water dripping down her lips. "Don't do this..."

"You are a strange girl, Isabella." Sulpicia mused with a thoughtful sniff to her throat. "You would risk your own life to keep them safe, but who is to say they even love you at all, hmm? Perhaps they were simply raising you for slaughter. It wouldn't be the first time it has happened, and your blood _does _smell incredibly good."

Bella ignored her poisonous words.

"They're my family. I love them." And even though she was scared out of her mind and her whole body was shaking, Bella had enough sense to lift her head as she spoke. She looked out into the darkness around her, swallowing thickly as her eyes watered. "You can't hurt them. Please, I'm begging you."

Sulpicia clucked her tongue in reproach. "Oh, but I can. _How _I hurt them though... well, I suppose I can leave that for you to decide. That's fair, is it not?"

Bella felt a sob work its way up her throat and she closed her eyes.

She couldn't do this. The woman was crazy. She had to be. Or maybe it was all some horrible nightmare her mother was going to wake her up from very soon. She would crawl into bed, kiss her on the forehead and hold her close until she fell asleep again.

"Quiet, child. Everything will be alright." The terrifying woman hushed. "Cooperation, remember?"

Up until this point Bella's arms had been hanging uselessly at her sides, but with the woman's touch having turned so damn _tender,_ making Bella feel so damn _sick_ to her stomach, she started trying to pry the arms from around her. She didn't want to be held by her. She wanted to go home.

She wanted her mother.

She sobbed again.

"Come now, Isabella, we've been getting along so well. Do not ruin it with your tears. They are useless and they make you look weak."

Bella didn't listen. She continued to cry and struggle in the woman's arms, clawing uselessly as Sulpicia tightened her hold on her, whispering threateningly into her ear, "You stop those foolish tears or I will give you no choice in your family's fate! I will slaughter them all and take you back to Italy with me anyway! Is that you want?"

Bella managed to shake her head through her hysteria.

She didn't want that. God, she didn't want that at all.

"Good. Now, you can return with me, become a member of my coven, without any trouble and without your family even knowing of my little visit, or I can have your family killed and take you back kicking and screaming. It is your decision."

"Don't hurt my f-family," She cried quietly, almost hyperventilating as she tried to calm herself and stop crying. "I'll do anything, just..." She shut her eyes tightly, whispering, "_Please_ don't hurt them."

"They will notice you're gone soon." She went rigid when Sulpicia actually had the nerve to let the tip of her wet tongue run up her shoulder, taunting her, _humiliating_ her, ignoring the fact that she was breaking apart before them all. "They will be beside themselves with worry when they realise it was a vampire that took you. They _will_ follow the trail... and when they find nothing, when the scent leads them _nowhere_, they will weep and think you are dead. They will exhaust themselves looking for you despite it though, bunch of hopeful fools that they are, and they will become so overcome with grief when they find _nothing._"

Her vicious words were breaking Bella's heart all over again.

"You will be _dead_ to them, and they will suffer such _heartache _over it." Soft strands of hair tickled Bella's flesh as the woman breathed her words directly into her ear once more. "Is that what you _want_, Isabella? _H__mm?"_

It wasn't, but what other choice did she have? With tears slipping down her cheeks and her chest aching with her pain, Bella shuddered and gave a shaky nod.

She had to.

"Good girl." Sulpicia murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her neck like she was claiming some sort of sick, twisted ownership over her. "That wasn't so hard, was it? You will be well looked after in my coven, Isabella. I am a woman of my word, and my word is law."

And indeed, it did seem like she was a woman of her word. Mostly. Bella was taken from that place in the forest, surrounded by people she did not know and people that quite honestly scared her to death, and in the arms of a woman who spoke very little English, knowing that the further they ran from her home, the less chance there was that her family would find her. And the entire way, she let herself cry in the arms of one of her captors, because deep down she now knew Sulpicia hadn't been lying about their being vampires. Humans could not move as quickly as they were moving through the trees now.

It was enough to bring on a whole new wave of tears and despair.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN – I am so fucking sorry about the wait for this chapter. Work has been exhausting, and now I have the flu to boot. But I wanted to get this out to all you lovely people who leave me reviews. They make me want to actually keep this story going for you. So again, thank you to everyone for the feedback. :)**

**Any speech in **_italics _**will be Italian since I don't actually know Italian and would prefer not to butcher the language using google translate. All mistakes are my own.**

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**Welcome To The New Age – Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer – Not mine.  
**

_Volterra, Italy__, __present da__y..._

"_Explain yourselves."_

Sitting upon their thrones, pale and ethereal in their beauty, the three Queens of Volterra did not look in the least bit impressed with the two vampires who knelt below them. In fact, by the way her long fingers dug into the century old wood her throne was carved from, Sulpicia looked like she was physically restraining herself from beating them both to within an inch of their immortal lives.

"_My Queen, __we were... perhaps a little too caught up in the moment." _One of the kneeling vampires admitted in apology. _"__We weren't thinking properly __and we must apologise."_

"_I do not want apologies. They are a waste of time. __What I want," _She hissed as she looked between the two, _"Is for the two of you to stop trying to rip each other's throats out! Do I ask too much of you?" _She asked them furiously. "_Your petty rivalry for one another is a humiliation to us all!"_

"_Sister, __be calm.__" _ Another of the Queen's interrupted her. _"Your shouting helps none."_

Sulpicia shot her sister a piercing glare.

"_I beg your pardon, Athenodora?" _

At the use of her full name, the shorter of the two women lifted an eyebrow. _"I said __be __calm. Losing your temper may make you feel better, but it __isn't going to improve__ t__he situation at all__." _She stared into Sulpicia's black eyes a moment longer before looking down at the two offenders by their spoke a little louder as she addressed them. _"Raise your heads, the both of you."_

Two sets of eyes cautiously met her own.

"_Whilst my sister __may allow__ her anger to lead her, I am still inclined to agree with what she __says__. Your behaviour toward one another is an embarrassment to our coven and __to __what we stand for, and it will no longer be tolerated." _Anger and disappointment was undeniable in Athenodora's voice as she spoke. _"The next time you feel the need to sink your teeth into one another, you do it down in the courts like the rest of your coven mates. __Where you can be supervised. Is that understood?__"_

The two vampires nodded.

"_I would heed my sister's words. __T__here will be no more leniency__ from this day forth." _Sulpicia agreed sharply, glaring down her nose at the two vampires, determined to have her word be the last_. "The next time you act out against one another, you will both be punished so severely it will take you weeks to heal. Is that understood?"_

Neither of the two vampires dared open their mouths and that only seemed to enrage the woman further.

"_Answer your __Q__ueen!" _Sulpicia roared as she sprung to her feet. _"Your silence does nothing to appease me!"_

There was a moment of silence before the quieter of the two kneeling vampires cautiously spoke up.

"_Jane and I will do our very best, my Queen." _She said.

"_No, you will do far better than that, Isabella!" _Descending the stone steps, the sight as beautiful as it was terrifying, Sulpicia's hand reared back and viciously made contact with the side of the other vampire's face. Bella's head snapped to the side from the blow and although it caused her marble skin to crack and her vision to blur, she didn't dare make a sound as Sulpicia still loomed over her. _"Now get out of my sight before I have your arms removed for showing such little respect."_

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Showing such little respect.

As Bella fled the room and the woman who wanted to punish her, they were the words going through her head. It was as rich as it was rubbish considering Bella had done nothing _but _show that woman and her sisters the respect they required of her. And it wasn't that Sulpicia suggested otherwise that angered Bella. No, it was that she had said it in front of that despicable little beast _Jane, _that she found so offensive.

"Showing such little respect." She scoffed to herself in English as she wound through the old sewers beneath the city. "I have _always _shown them respect. Ridiculous."

Ridiculous because that clearly didn't seem to matter to them at all. Come morning the entire guard would know of her humiliation and be laughing at her, no doubt Jane would see to that.

Growling, she approached the elevator at the end of the passageway and jabbed at the call button. What did it matter if she broke it? She was already being punished and it was only there for show anyway, like the lobby and the toilets and the vendor machines. Even the human secretary who sat behind the desk with a smile on her lips and a compliment on her tongue was there for show. How the woman could smile and knowingly send a group of her own species to slaughter was beyond Bella's cope of understanding, but it all existed for the same reason. They were there to help hide what they were from their prey, to set their minds at ease as they were led to a roomful of hungry vampires waiting to feast on their blood. From a humans perspective, the elevator was definitely less terrifying than the narrow stairwells.

Riding said elevator up to ground floor, Bella breezed into the lobby and right up to the front desk.

"_Elise!" _She barked to the blonde night secretary._ "I require keys. __Be__ quick about it__.__"_

If the human was startled by Bella's sudden appearance, she certainly didn't let it show as she looked up from the screen of her laptop.

"_I'm sorry, but I was told I wasn't allowed to do that, __ma'am.__" _She closed the lid of her laptop and at Bella's narrow eyed stare, gave her an apologetic smile. _"My orders came __right__ from the top. I was also told to give you this." _The secretary slid a sealed envelope with Bella's name written on it toward her. _"It was delivered a few minutes __ago__."_

Bella didn't need to open it to have an idea of what it would say. Still, she snatched it off the desk and tore it open anyway.

_ Isabella,_

_ Due to your recent behaviour, you are restricted to the castle until further notice. _

The note was not signed, but the elegance behind the cursive writing couldn't have been mistaken.

"_Did Sulpicia ask you to tell me anything else?" _

The secretary shook her head. _"No, __ma'am__. __It was delivered by another guard.__"_

Obviously by someone who had used the stairwells, Bella thought as she slipped the note into the front pocket of her jeans. Very well then. Without another word to the smiling secretary, daft bimbo that she was, Bella turned and strode back toward the elevator thinking of all the ways she would remove Sulpicia's head if she was given the chance, each one more violent than the last. She wouldn't act on any of it though, not if she valued her life, and she certainly valued that. She wasn't suicidal and she didn't much feel like being tossed into a scorching fire and the ensuing nothingness of a final death. In the privacy of her own room, she was far safer to think and feel what she liked than she was wandering about the castle, so that was where she went.

Inside, she removed her cloak and tossed it aside, where it landed on a stack of old books she owned by the far wall. Her suitcase was sitting open on the only piece of furniture in her room. Her two seater sofa. And rummaging through her walk-in closet, sorting the clothes from her trip, was a petite woman that Bella would have recognised anywhere. At the sound of the door opening though, the girl turned with such a huge smile on her face that even Bella couldn't stop her lips from curling.

"_Mistress!" _The girl squealed, abandoning the shirt in her hands to run over on socked feet and throw herself into Bella's arms. _"I'm so glad you're home!"_

"_Oh Nikki," _Bella laughed, hugging her back as fiercely as the girl's humanity allowed her to. _"I forgot how exuberant you can be."_

"_I know, I know, I'm sorry. I just missed you so much!" _The girl, Nikki, rambled as she pulled back to bounce on the balls of her feet excitedly. _"You've been gone too long, Mistress!"_

Smiling, Bella stroked the girl's head affectionately.

"_I know. I'm home now though." _She said. _"Corin has been looking after you, I hope?"_

"_Of course. She always does when you're away."_

"_Good, good." _Bella laid a quick kiss to the girl's forehead before stepping away and looking toward her suitcase. _"Where did you put my journal by the way? I feel like writing for a little while."_

"_Oh, it's still packed. Let me get it for you." _Nikki bounced over to the sofa and dug through the remaining clothes inside until she produced Bella's journal and a pen. She handed them over with a proud grin. _"Here you go! Guess I should take off for awhile? Give you some peace and quiet to write?"_

"_Just for a little while." _Bella said. _"Go do whatever you like. Just stay away from Sulpicia and Jane, alright? I'll come collect you when I'm done here. Stay out of trouble until then, hmm?" _Nikki only blushed bright red when Bella pat her on the head. _"Off you go, pet."_

"_But your clothes...?" _She questioned, ducking her head bashfully. _"I can put them away before I go if you like. I know you like your room to be neat and tidy, Mistress."_

"_Go enjoy your afternoon. The clothes will be here when you get back." _She waved the girl off. _"I'll find you later, alright? See if Heidi will allow Michael to keep you company. Go for a walk, go into town, do whatever you like. I'll see you later."_

Once Nikki had slipped into her runners and grabbed a coat from the closet, Bella gave her one last pat and watched her duck from the room with a shy smile, still embarrassed from earlier if Bella had to guess. She was a sweet girl, barely sixteen, but she was without a doubt one of the most well behaved pets Bella had owned over the years. Never had she owned a human who was as obedient and well tempered as her dear Nikki.

Shaking her head and moving to settle against the far wall to write, Bella gave a short laugh. Trust that her human would put a smile on her face when she wanted to do nothing more than tear someone apart with her bare hands. She'd missed the girl.

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**If it wasn't clear, in this story some vampires keep humans as pets, like we keep dogs and cats and rabbits etc. I myself love my puppy and spoil her like a princess, so I guess I'm kinda basing Bella's interactions with Nikki off of how I treat my own puppy. To a degree anyway. You get the point. Speaking of which. I wants me some big puppy cuddles. Leave me your thoughts. XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - Hey guys, sorry this took awhile. Think it did anyway. Work has been a bitch. Speaking of which, I have to get ready and take off soon, but I wanted to give you this for being so patient with me. Yes, I would like to confirm, this story WILL BE Tanya/Bella. You'll understand why I needed to mention that when you read this chapter. I also have not edited or read over this today. Just do not have the time. So enjoy and please leave me your thoughts.**

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**Welcome To The New Age – Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer – Don't own it.**

It wasn't until some hours later that Bella resurfaced from the pages of her journal.

Writing let her vent in way that talking to a person didn't. There were no repercussions to anything she wrote. Her journals stayed in her room and her room was exactly that. _Hers. _Vampires were territorial creatures, they didn't just wander into another vampire's territory, not without that vampire's strict permission. It just didn't happen, especially not in a coven as large and as powerful as the Volturi, whose very existence was to make sure peace was kept amongst their kind. Not that she and Jane did very well with each other in that respect, but still.

"_I was beginning to wonder if those pages had swallowed you whole." _A teasing voice said, breaking her thoughts.

Bella slowly lifted her head and let her gaze drift to the door, where her visitor leant back against the solid oak wearing nothing but a pair of sheer lace knickers.

"_Oh no, I'm quite un-swallowed I assure you." _Closing the leather bound book and carefully placing it aside, a smile slowly curled Bella's lips. "_Good evening, Corin."_

"_Tell me, Bella," _Corin purred. _"What could have possibly been going on inside that __pretty __little head of yours that was so important you would miss this?" _She plucked at her underwear demurely, teasing Bella with the most delightful little peak at what they hid from her. Bella licked her lips.

"_Isn't that just the million dollar question..." _She answered, distracted by the sheer nakedness of the woman before her. It was so _distracting, _and yet Corin wasn't even completely naked. _"I've noticed now though, haven't I?"_

Corin smirked and pushed off the door. She wandered further into the small room, lowered her bottom to the carpeted floor, and murmured, _"Yes, you have. Now come here." _She tugged her knickers down, and those long legs that Bella had spent a good portion of her nights kissing, nibbling, licking, _worshipping,_ opened for her. And Jesus had Bella missed it while she'd been away.

She sat there and watched as the older vampire, the tip of her tongue sweeping her lower lip, slipped her own hand down between her thighs.

"_Hmm, do__n't__ wish to play?" _Corin then asked her and, playing coy Bella realised with a grin, flashed a smile that was so far from innocent that it sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine. Closing her legs, she hid what she had so readily offered Bella a moment before. _"That's too bad." _She murmured. "_I suppose I'll just have to put my clothes on and __go__back __to my own room. I have been meaning to read this book Chelsea __leant__ me..."_

Corin made to sit up like the idea of leaving didn't bother her in the slightest, when they both knew very well that it would have bothered her greatly, so much so that she would have likely taken it out on Bella herself, and so before she could even lift herself more than a few inches off the floor, Bella was at her feet.

"_Please stay." _She used a gentle hand to caress the older woman's delicate ankle, making her pause. _"I always love to play with you, Corin."_

Corin hummed and laid back down.

"_You do, don't you? It makes me wonder why then, you did not come see me as soon as you returned from your trip. Did you find yourself another playmate while you were away?"_

Bella snorted and lifted her lover's foot into her lap. _"Now you're just fishing for compliments."_

"_Maybe, but we haven't been together in almost two months and the first thing you do when you return to Volterra is write in your __little diary__? You __can't__ blame me for being curious." _She used her toe to poke Bella in the stomach playfully. _"Now spill."_

"_You know very well that no vampire I have come across in this life has held a candle to you yet, Corin." _Bella peered into her crimson eyes with a small half smile. _"But if you insist on __knowing why__, it was because Jane and I were summoned before the Queens for fighting."_

"_Ah."_ Sweeping a thick, red curl from her face, Corin smirked. _"You and Jane at each other's throats again, why does that not surprise me?"_

"_Because we're always at each other's throat?" _Bella responded unhelpfully as her eyes swept up pale, silky looking flesh. They lingered on the woman's breasts and she licked her lips again. _"Sulpicia has given us our final warning."_

Corin, the younger vampire knew, did not need to be told what that meant. She had stood beside the three Queens for years, centuries even, so she knew them better than most in the coven and knew that to provoke Sulpicia was to tread the line between life and an almost near certain death.

"_You had best heed it then." _Corin said.

"_I have every intention of trying." _Leaning in to softly kiss Corin's ankle bone, she smiled up at her, deceptively innocent._ "So now that we have all of that out of the way, __c__an we get back to playing?"_

"_We certainly can. But first," _The naked woman grinned, her protruding fangs teasing her bottom lip. _"I want to see that body of yours. I don't think you realise how much I've missed you."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Ye__s.__" _She opened her thighs again, pale and toned and so _beautiful _to Bella's wandering eyes, and her grin turned impish. _"But if you don't believe me, then by all means, look, feel how much I've missed your touch." _

And how could she say no to an offer like that? Slowly, she let her eyes roam down her lover's body to the apex of her thighs, where there was no denying her desire for Bella.

"_My touch?" _She still had to ask, and Corin rolled her eyes like she couldn't believe she had to ask at a moment like that, when she was sprawled out for her and practically _begging to be touched._

"_Y__es, baby." _She said anyway, a fond smile on her lips as she gazed up at her. _"Y__our touch."_

Bella licked her lips again, sparing her lover a brief smile before letting her eyes drift down her body again.

"_And this __is all for me?" _

It was hard for Bella to believe sometimes. Corin was beautiful. Her red hair was long and thick, her curls so beautiful that they could make even the strongest of women weep with envy. Her smile was sweet and full of promises, and her breasts were soft and perky and fit perfectly into the palm of Bella's hands. While the rest of her body was...

… well, the rest of her body was simply _delicious_.

"_Bella," _Corin called to her breathlessly, aware of the smouldering eyes appraising her body and absolutely loving it. _"It is all for you," _She breathed._ "I swear it, baby."_

Bella made a sound in the back of her throat, something that was not quite a groan but not quite a growl either.

"_Fuck, I've missed you." _She said, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it aside. She forgot that she was still wearing pants as she crawled up her lover's body and aggressively pressed her own hips into Corin's sex. _"I've missed this." _She groaned as she pressed harder, closer.

Corin's eyes fluttered shut, but reopened barely a second later, darker and hungrier. _"Show me then, __Bella__." _She purred. _"Show me how much you missed my pussy."_

"_I wasn't just talking about __that__." _Bella growled, and after pushing her lover's head back to expose her throat, latched onto the muscle between her shoulder and her neck angrily. She bit into her flesh harshly, which caused the older vampire to whimper, and moved to whisper in her ear heatedly, _"But now that you mention it, I did miss __that as well__."_

When she arched her back and groaned, Bella released a low chuckle.

_"You like hearing that, don't you?" _She taunted. _"You like to hear how crazy it drives me. How soft and velvety and tight you feel around my fingers. __H__ow delicious you taste on my tongue..." _She chuckled darkly. _"You love that I get so fucking angry thinking of you letting those other sluts touch you this way, don't you?"_

"_Yes..." _Corin hissed.

Feeling her nails bight into her shoulders and her legs tighten around her hips, Bella felt something inside her, something familiar, trying to claw its way out, and she welcomed it with a hunger equal to the woman's below her.

"_You want me to fuck you?" _She growled into Corin's ear. _"Is that what you want?"_

"_Yes, baby, __y__es." _Moaning, the older woman slipped her hands down and grabbed Bella firmly by the globes of her arse, pulling her closer. _"Fuck me. Show me how much you missed me. Make me come so hard the whole coven will hear me scream."_

With eyes as dark as night and her lips curled back over her fangs in a snarl, Bella roughly grabbed a hold of her lover's hair to stop her from moving beneath her. Her throat bared and vulnerable, and her body at the mercy of Bella's, desire quickly consumed the younger vampire, and she lunged.

* * *

"_We should__ get up...__"_

Her naked body sprawled across the floor, her chest heaving for unnecessary breath and her body still tingling from her most recent orgasm, Bella thought that was the very last thing that they should do. Lazily, she blinked up at the ceiling.

"_I think that's the very last thing we should do right now. __Could think of better things.__" _She murmured, turning her head to shoot her lover a tiny, perverted little grin. Corin snorted where she lie on her stomach beside Bella, using her own folded arms as a makeshift pillow. Her curls were splayed down her back messily, something she had Bella to thank for.

It did, admittedly, fill Bella with a teensy bit of pride, and she grinned.

Corin wasn't going anywhere.

"_That's what I thought."_

"_Oh that's what you thought, was it?"_ Before the younger vampire could even hope to react, a smirking Corin had rolled over onto her and trapped her between strong thighs. _"I think you've forgotten whose boss in __bed__, Bella." _She said. _"I think you need another lesson or two to remind you."_

"_I don't have a bed."_

"_Oh Bella, __you think you're so smart, don't you?__"_ Grabbing her by the wrists and pinning them above her head, Corin leant down to playfully bite at Bella's bottom lip. _"You're getting far too brazen for my liking. I think it's time I reminded you who is really in charge here."_

And she did. It was close to noon the following day before they managed to pull themselves away from one another, and that was only because a lower member of the guard had been sent to ensure they did so. He was timid and flighty as he spoke, the guard, and he refused to make even the simplest of eye contact. Had Bella and Corin not known that Sulpicia had likely sent him, they probably would have sent him away with his tongue in his hand for daring to presume he had a right to give them marching orders as it were. As it was, Corin fairly glared the poor vampire into the ground as she passed him on her way out, reeking of sex and looking thoroughly fucked in all of her naked glory. Bella took a sick sort of pleasure in seeing the vampire flee ahead of her lover, holding his hands in front of his crotchlike some undisciplined virgin. It was pathetic.

"_Pathetic.__" _Corin echoed her thoughts exactly. _"One would think he had never seen a satisfied woman in his miserable little life."_

"_Maybe he hasn't. But maybe it also had more to do with the fact that you're naked." _

"_You're naked as well in case you had forgotten."_

"_Not fully." _Bella tugged at the oxford she had half covered herself with when the guard had knocked. _"I'm wearing a shirt." _

The older woman rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Bella's chest, where her nipples were visible through the thin material. Bella scoffed.

"_I would hardly consider that__ naked. In any case," _Bella smirked and made a show of crossing her arms over her chest._ "If you keep staring at my tits like that, I promise you I will not be responsible for what happens next."_

"_Don't make promises that you __cannot__ keep, __Bella__." _Corin said as she referred to the rightly assumed leash Sulpicia now had her on. She leant in and placed a kiss to Bella's cheek. _"__I'll see you later, hmm? __Thanks for last night." _With another quick kiss to Bella's lips, Corin, naked as the day she was born, disappeared down the narrow corridor and around the corner out of sight. As soon as she was gone, the smile slipped from Bella's face.

Fun.

Of course. It was always only fun. Their relationship would never be anything else to Corin. She wasn't the type of woman for monogamy or love. That wasn't her, Bella had known that when she first went to bed with her. It hadn't bothered her at the time, because naively enough, she hadn't wanted anything serious in the beginning either. She'd wanted fun, excitement, and sex, and it hadn't bothered her that the woman who wanted to give her all three of those things also enjoyed giving them to others.

It bothered Bella now though.

Closing her door and moving to rummage through her closet for some fresh clothes to wear, Bella knew the joke was on her. She'd been the one afraid that Corin would become attached and would eventually want something more serious from her. Ironic that she'd be the one to want those things after fifty four years together, wasn't it? But then they hadn't really been _together,_ had they?

Bella paused among her meagre collection of oxfords and jeans, frowning. She recounted some of their more memorable moments together and... and she found nothing.

"_Way to depress yourself, Bella, really." _She spoke to herself with a frustrated sigh.

Abandoning her search for decent clothes, Bella slipped into a pair of cotton boxers and her filthy overalls. With grubby work boots on her feet and the sleeves of her shirt rolled up to her elbow, she used a hair tie to draw her hair behind her head and brusquely strode out of the room.

She'd reached the elevator that would take her down to the garage and was waiting for it to arrive before she realised she hadn't gone looking for Nikki and she had no clue where the girl was, or where she'd spent the night, or even if she was alright.

"Fuck!" She swore loudly, spinning on the spot and feeling like a complete arsehole. Could she be any worse of an owner? She was supposed to look after the human, keep her fed, and clean, and clothed, and loved. She'd vowed to never be one of those vampires who mistreated their pets for whatever sick reason that they tended to, _promised _the damn girl that she wouldn't be when she had purchased her seven years earlier. And what does she do? Leave the girl to find a place to sleep and keep warm while she lost herself between Corin's thighs.

She was disgusted in herself.

After what was thankfully a very brief search of the upper castle, Bella found Nikki in the above library, fast asleep on the uncomfortable sofa chair by the dying embers of the fire. She gently lifted the girl into her arms, and she stirred at the movement, blarrily opening her eyes to peek up into Bella's face.

"_Mistress...?"_

Bella hushed her as she moved back through the corridors to her room. _"Go back to sleep, Nikki." _She said softly, opening her door and gently placing her human down onto the sofa. She pulled a thick blanket from the closet and tucked it around her. _"I'm so sorry about last night, it won't happen again."_

"_S'fine," _Nikki was already closing her eyes again and snuggling into the plush cushions beneath her. _"Night, Mistress..."_

Bella shook her head. It wasn't fine at all, but she wouldn't argue. She would just have to make sure she kept her word and ensure it didn't happen again. She gently scratched at the girl's head in apology.

"_I'll have some food brought up for you when you wake, alright? I have to go down into the garage." _She said. _"Come find me later if you so wish to. I will be down there until late, I dare say."_

"_...'kay..." _Nikki murmured, and was fast asleep almost as soon as the mumble had left her lips.

Probably due to a terrible night's rest in a cold, drafty library, Bella thought to herself as she gave the girl one last caress and left the room. She would do better by her next time, she would make sure of it.

A scoff caught in her throat, Bella approached the elevators and descended into the castle's garage. Whether she thought herself a arsehole or not, she had work to do.


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome To The New Age – Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer – Don't own it.**

"_Will you teach me these things one day, Mistress?"_

Nikki was perched atop a toolbox to the side of the car Bella was working beneath. She watched on with a sort of young innocence that the vampire could admire, her curiosity to learn Bella's art shining in her bright blue eyes.

Bella had been down there on her own for most of the day, but she'd been happy to have Nikki come down and see her. She was enjoying the company.

Crawling out from beneath the car to peer up at her human, Bella told her that there was no reason she had to learn.

"_But I would like to." _Nikki said much to Bella's delight. She grinned a little.

"_Then one day I will show you. Not today though, hmm? We'll start on a fresh car when I'm done with this one."_

Nikki perked up, clearly excited for the idea. _"__Which one?" _She then asked.

Bella looked around the garage thoughtfully, before finally settling her gaze on a newer model Mercedes in the back. It belonged to a lower member of the guard and it wasn't a particularly great car as far as Bella was concerned, but it was as good a place to start as any.

"_T__he Mercedes __over there." _She said to her human._ "It only needs the back left tire changed. Nice easy place to start your lessons. __We don't want to overload that poor little brain of yours yet, do we?__" _

Nikki giggled and shook her head. _"No, Mistress. The tire change sounds good."_

"_Good girl. Now pass along that spanner, pet. Need to get a move on if we want to start your lessons tomorrow."_

Bella would have the car done by the end of the day without too much effort anyway, within the hour even if Nikki didn't disrupt her too much, but she enjoyed the playful banter she had with her human and so she wasn't too bothered. It was fun to fluster the girl and keep her happy.

Bella crawled back under the car and went to work. She listened to the chatter of her human as she talked of cars and asked Bella questions about this and that as she worked. She told her about a book she'd found in the library the night before filled with photographs of cars that a man named John Evens had taken on his trip around the world, and how she fell asleep looking at them in front of the fire.

"_They were amazing, Mistress."_

Bella grinned as she tightened the last bolt beneath the car, finishing up. _"And which one did you like most?"_

Nikki pouted in thought. _"__I__'m not sure exactly, they were all so beautiful, you know?" _She said with a smile lighting up her face._ "But the Mini Cooper looked pretty coo__-"_

"_Oh do shut up, __you stupid __human." _A cruel voice interrupted from the elevator entrance. _"__You will never own one, so what does it matter?"_

Bella was out from beneath the car in a matter of seconds, her body strung tight as she glared down the horrible little blonde approaching them. She noticed Jane eyeing her human, _her _human, and she moved to stand in front of Nikki protectively.

_Do it_, she thought. She would enjoy having another go at her.

"_Jane." _She greeted coldly. _"I don't believe that is any of your business."_

"_Perhaps not." _She agreed in the same tone._ "But is it not more cruel to give the girl hope? She will amount to nothing in the end. Pets always do."_

Bella felt her human flinch against her back.

"_You will cease speaking of her, Jane, is that understood? She is mine and she is none of your concern. Now tell me what you're here for, or leave. Your vileness is stinking up my garage." _

"_Oh, how very original of you, Isabella." _The little blonde commented as she continued her approach closer. _"I'm impressed."_

Bella didn't care. She just wanted Jane gone, and far, far away from Nikki.

"_What do you want?"_

"To speak frankly and in English for a moment, if you don't mind." Jane said in perfect English, despite her accent. "Less ears to understand and less words to get to our lovely Queens ears."

The only other ears in the room were Nikki's, and it appeared that Jane trusted her about as much as she trusted any pet in the Volturi's service. Bella preferred it that way. If Jane knew how loyal Nikki actually was to her, the girl would have a target on her back. Or at her throat at the very least.

Bella felt Nikki grab a hold of the back of her shirt in worry.

"Fine. Speak then."

"Do not presume to order me around, Isabella. I am your elder." Jane said, narrowing her eyes threateningly. "I am here to speak civilly, so if you cannot respect that, I will take my talks of peace back to my chambers with me and we will likely go _another _week without feeding."

_That _caught Bella's attention.

"Another?"

Jane sniffed. "Yes, another. It would appear we are not invited out on the hunt tonight, and I can assure you, if we continue to fight the way we have been, we will not be attending next week's either."

"Sulpicia would not allow us to starve."

"She wants us to behave. She will do anything if she is angry enough, and she _is _angry enough." Jane cut Nikki a distasteful look over Bella's shoulder. "I would keep that in mind if you wish for your pet to live out the remainder of her life... well, _alive._"

Bella growled at the threat, stepping forward. The tightening grip Nikki had on her shirt was the only thing that stopped her from getting right up in the little beast's face. Not because she couldn't break the grip, because that would have been as easy as tearing paper, but because she didn't want Nikki to be in the middle of a fight that would likely kill her.

Jane rolled her eyes.

"I'm not threatening the girl. I'm warning you." She said. "This attempt to break the tension and start the conversation isn't working in my favour at all."

"Brings into question why you want to have a conversation with me in the first place, doesn't it? I certainly have no desire to speak with you." Bella scoffed, and the words were as vicious aloud as they'd sounded in her head as well. "You have done nothing but threaten myself and my pet since you stepped foot in here. I'm losing my patience."

"Did you know that you speak with an accent when you speak English now?" Jane spoke on as though Bella hadn't spoken at all, much to her mounting fury, looking about the garage with practised disinterest. "If I didn't know for a fact that English was your native tongue, I would assume you had been born and raised in Italy."

Bella, of course, knew her Italian accent was strong. She _had_ spoken the language far more over the years than she had English, but why Jane found it surprising enough to mention it now (especially now), Bella had no idea.

Not caring enough either way, Bella grunted. "Italian is practically my native tongue now. I speak it more than I speak English."

"Yes, I suppose you do." Jane mused, a mocking little grin on her lips. "Could you imagine the look on Carlisle Cullen's face if he heard you speak now? If it were possible, the poor man would have a heart atta-"

"_Shut your mouth!" _Bella hissed as she slipped back into Italian, dropping the spanner she didn't even realise was still in her hand. It was mangled as it hit the ground from how hard she had been clenching. _"How dare you speak of my father! __What gives you the right?__"_

Jane paused and looked up from where she had been examining a grimy finger, one that she had presumably just swiped along the bench she was standing by. She was grinning.

"_Oh, did I hit a nerve?" _She taunted, slipping effortlessly back into Italian as well. _"How very insensitive of me that was."_

"_You have some nerve."_

"_Do I? I hadn't noticed." _Her grin seemed to widen as she took in the slight tremble that ran through Bella's body. _"There is no need to get your panties in a bunch, Isabella. We wouldn't want __our Queen __to do anything rash, would we? Besides," _She shrugged. _"I was only playing around."_

"_Do you think I'm stupid?" _

Jane was certainly not playing around, and even if she was, bringing Bella's father or her family into it was completely uncalled for.

"_You have some nerve." _She repeated again, furious.

"_Fine, I'm sorry, alright?" _The blonde glowered, and Bella was happy to see that she looked slightly disgusted with herself for choosing to apologise in the first place. She crossed her arms. _"Despite what it looks like, I didn't come down here to argue with you. It's hardly my fault that mocking you comes so naturally."_

"_I couldn't care less how naturally mocking me comes to you, Jane. __Tell me what you want, or get the fuck out of my garage.__"_

Jane turned a furious glare on her. She was ordering her around again.

"_However much I don't wish to," _She said, speaking her words slowly and precisely._ "__W__e need to discuss what we're going to do about the situation we've found ourselves in."_

"_And how do you propose we do that? You say you came down here to talk, but the first thing you do is taunt me." _Bella responded coldly, eyes as hard as steel. _"We cannot be in the same room together without riling one another up, so I suggest you leave. I have things to do."_

Bella returned to the Audi and was just about to crawl back beneath it, to finish collecting her tools, when Jane spoke up again.

"_Did you know that the coven has a wager going, on which of us will fail first?"_

Bella slowly turned to face the blonde again, and she wasn't entirely sure where the anger that little bit of information caused her was directed most. Jane, the coven, the Queens... Corin. She wasn't sure who she was more furious with.

"_What, your lover didn't tell you? I'm surprised." _Jane recovered from her foul mood quickly as she saw this, a sick smile twisting her lips. _"I guess she also declined to mention that her money is on you breaking first, within the month, and not me."_

"_You're lying." _

"_No dear, I assure you I'm not." _Jane giggled and, pulling a relatively clean rag off a hook next to her head, tossed it to the glaring brunette across from her. _"So how about you wipe th__at filth__ off your hands and we work out a way to prove the whole lot of them wrong, hmm? Because I don't know about you," _She said slowly._ "But I'm angry enough with them that I want to show them all up. __And take all of their money while I'm at it.__"_

Bella did nothing but let the rag hang between her grease stained fingers as she continued to stare the other vampire down. She _was _angry with them, but she couldn't see how showing the coven up would lessen her embarrassment. The fact that they were betting on them, that Corin was betting _against_ her, would have made her blood boil had she been human and she wasn't sure anything would make it better. Absently, she began to wipe the grease and dirt off her hands, and asked what they would gain from it all.

"_Because, correct me if I'm wrong," _She told the blonde._ "__But o__ur getting along will only make the coven happy."_

"_And that," _Jane said._ "Is where the real fun begins. So what do you say?"_

"_I still don't like you."_

"_And you think I like you? Don't flatter yourself, Isabella. This will be business and nothing more."_

"_Fine. Let me clean this mess up and then we can talk."_

* * *

Alec was going to place his own bet, Jane had told her after a quick talk. All she and Jane had to do was make sure he won, and they would split the winnings between the three of them. They would have a small fortune added to their already substantial funds, but that wasn't the point of it, Jane had it explained. The point was to take their money and their pride, and humiliate _them _by realising she and Jane had been in on it from the beginning. The point, she said, was to _show them up._ Simple as that. They were better than them and they would prove it. Bella didn't particularly want to play nice with Jane, but she was so angry, was feeling so _spiteful, _that she couldn't stop herself from agreeing to Jane's proposition. The coven wanted them to get along, but they would all bet on their failure? It was infuriating.

"So you're in?"

Bella gave Jane a distasteful look, but nodded anyway.

"I'm in."

"Good. I will speak with Alec tonight. He can place his bet and we can begin..." She paused and gave Bella an equally distasteful look. "Tolerating one another." She finished with a sniff. "Does that put as foul a taste in your mouth as it does mine?"

For the first time since Jane had come down to speak with her, Bella allowed herself a tiny twitch of her lips, an 'almost' smirk. All of this was much to Nikki's confusion, Bella could tell. The poor girl had no idea what was going on.

Bella turned her back on Jane.

"I've yet to say it."

* * *

"_Are you sure this thing with Jane and Alec is a good idea, Mistress?"_

They were in the same library where Nikki had slept the night before. Bella was idly browsing the shelves for something she might not have already read while Nikki sat on the floor by the fire eating a hot, meaty stew that the chefs had cooked up earlier that evening for the coven's pets. She tore into a freshly baked roll and dipped it in her bowl, drenching the bread in the thick sauce and humming as she brought it to her mouth, and Bella grinned. She was glad her human was enjoying her meal. She would send her regards down to the cooks personally if they kept it up.

"_They want us to get along, and so we will. I've explained it already, Nikki." _Bella said, abandoning her search to move over to her human. She sat on the couch behind her and scratched at her scalp gently. _"Good, is it? I had them make that especially for you, because I know it's your favourite."_

Nikki took the hint, dropping her head back into Bella's touch and smiling up at her.

"_It's delicious, Mistress. Thank you."_

She was such a sweet girl, Bella thought. Her affection for her grew every day.

"_Good." _She murmured after a moment. _"That's good."_

Nikki gave her one last fond look before returning to her meal, eating with a hunger that made Bella as jealous as it did happy. Jealous that she would not be allowed to sate her own hunger, but happy that Nikki was so clearly enjoying sating her own.

"_Will you feed tonight, Mistress?" _Nikki asked, almost as though she could feel Bella watching her eat. She probably could.

"_I don't know, pet. Sulpicia wants to see me in the throne room in an hour, so perhaps. I will walk you back to our room before I go down to see her. You can clean yourself up and get ready for bed, and I'll be back before you fall asleep."_

Turning her head to peer up at Bella through light lashes, Nikki blushed. _"For some cuddling, Mistress?" _She asked her shyly. _"I've missed you."_

"_If my human would like cuddling, cuddling is what I shall give her." _Bella smirked, ruffling her hair and giggling as her blush deepened and she ducked her head away. _"Finish your dinner, Nikki."_

* * *

Bella did feed. The coven had returned, and with them Sulpicia had brought she and Jane the leftovers from their hunt; two children who were barely old enough to begin attending school. It was barbaric, and Bella had never been so disgusted with herself as she had been in that moment, when she was holding the terrified girl in her arms as she cried for her mother, fighting the burn in the back of her throat from the smell of the girl's blood. _  
_

A handful of the guard were milling about the throne room, watching as Sulpicia humiliated she and Jane further. Jane looked equally as furious.

"_Feed." _Sulpicia had ordered, sensing Bella's disgust and horror for her in that moment with spite glinting in her eyes. _"Feed now, or starve and risk tearing your precious pet's throat out. It is your choice. This snivelling girl will die either way."_

Bella had hoped for help from Didyme, or even Athenodora, but neither made a move to intervene. Athenodora was too busy ravishing attention upon her mate, kissing and fondling an excited Renata, _both_ excited from the hunt, and Didyme was speaking quietly with another member of the guard behind her sisters, seemingly oblivious to it all as she usually was. Bella would get no help, Corin was nowhere in sight and neither was Heidi, and it didn't take a genius to work out where the two had taken off to. It only served to anger her more. And so as she sunk her fangs into the sobbing girl's tiny throat, Bella found herself hating them all. The girl's blood was the most delicious to have ever touched her tongue, and her guilt for taking a life so young was replaced with the ravenous hunger of the beast inside her. The girl didn't stand much of a chance.

Now, having showered and cleaned herself, lying on the sofa bed with her human curled into her side sleeping soundly, Bella felt so tired and exhausted and empty that she wished she could sleep as Nikki was. Any sleep would have been a relief to her. Even a restless one.

Nikki stirred, mumbling in her sleep, and rubbed her face against Bella's shoulder. It made the vampire smile a little. She hated that she had been made to take that young girl's life, she thought as she pressed a soft kiss to her human's head, but if she were given the choice to do it again, she wouldn't have chose differently. _Her_ human meant the world to her and she would not choose to put her at risk, no matter what the situation. Nikki trusted her and Bella would not give her a chance to question that trust. Nikki deserved better than that. And beside all of that, the Volturi would be holding a trial in a months time, against a large coven that had been accused of housing a werewolf, of all creatures, within their coven. It would not do well for Bella to be weak from starvation at the time. The coven, she knew, was dangerous. Headed by an ancient vampire, that made it dangerous enough. The fact that there were a further two ancients in that coven, and two with gifts, and an ex-volturi guard made them _more _dangerous. The Volturi could not appear to be having rifts within their walls. It would not bode well and word would get around. She could not be weak.

She also could not humiliate her Queens like that, despite all that they had done to her over the years. The Volturi held a purpose in the world, and cruel or not, they were just. This Denali Coven? Bella had read about them over the years, like she had with all vampires and creatures who had such shady pasts with the Volturi. Their current leader's creator, Sasha, had caused trouble with the Volturi in the past by creating an immortal child, and so they on the Volturi's radar long before the most recent allegations against _them_. If they were in fact housing a werewolf, a creature thought to be a threat, thought to be _extinct_, then nothing would save them from the Volturi.

Bella could not be starving when the trial came about. Her coven would need her to be strong and at the best she could be at. She would kill a dozen crying little girls for that if she had to.

A long life, an _immortal_ life, was not an easy one. But they were certainly both better than death.

* * *

**Next chapter will be a time skip. Tanya and her ever lovely sisters will be making an appearance. Finally. Review please. XD**


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